CD: HVNLP26CD
RELEASE DATE: 2000
LABEL: Heavenly

01. Firesuite
02. Here It Comes
03. Break Me Gently
04. Sea Song
05. Rise
06. Lost Souls
07. Melody Calls
08. Catch the Sun
09. Man Who Told Everything
10. Cedar Room
11. Reprise
12. House

In 1993, a band called Sub Sub went Top 3 with a hi-NRG dance anthem entitled 'Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)'. After a fire devastated their equipment, Jez and Andy Williams and Jimi Goodwin rose from the ashes (not as phoenixes but as Doves), ditched the pounding beats and found a new style. This debut album is a delicate, beautiful little beast, shot through with a contemplative emotionalism and a somehow timeless, mellow sound. Doves deal in freefloating, Air-like instrumentals, such as the opener, 'Firesuite', and fragile ditties which sound like Embrace after devoting their lives to meditation, and which quietly steal out of your stereo to fill up your soul. Nearly every track is carefully crafted and utterly gorgeous. 'Sea Song', is so expansively atmospheric, it seems to take you up on its waves and up to the seagulls above, or the aptly-titled 'Rise', which will have you practically levitating. But Doves don't always fly off into the ether - there's also the odd bit of Hammond organ-sprinkled retro chic here to keep your feet on the ground, such as the Rialto-esque 'Here It Comes', which is the ideal soundtrack to cool people drinking in smoky rooms. Amazing...